ARKANSAS, USA — Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, law enforcement officers will be required to complete at least two hours of training relating to interacting with a person with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.
David Cook is the director of Public Policy and Government Affairs for the Alzheimer's Association and explained that they previously tried to pass this bill in 2019 and received the support of the Arkansas Sheriff's Association. He said it did not pass, however, as they ran out of time in that session.
Now in 2023, the bill passed unanimously with the lead sponsorship of House Representative Dwight Tosh.
Described as a degenerative brain disease, Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia.
"There are over 58,000 Arkansans over the age of 65 currently living with Alzheimer's," Cook said. "We don't have a red or blue issue, we have a purple issue because it does impact everyone."
The Alzheimer's Association said that six in 10 people living with dementia will wander at least once. It's why one of Cook's priorities was to help spread awareness, especially for law enforcement that may be the first responders in these situations.
"They're very common to display, elopement. They're, they're Prone to wander because of the confusion. In some cases, if a person still has the ability to drive, they could, you know, leave the grocery store on a common trip and not remember how to get home, which can cause lots of confusion, lots of panic, not only for the individual, but for their family as well," Cook said. "The person is in a unique situation they don't understand They're not able to communicate, and in some cases can present as combative."
Act 202 was passed during the 2023 legislative session that now required law enforcement to be trained on handling people with Alzheimer's and other dementias. Representative Tosh says it came at the right time after the establishment of Crisis Intervention and Stabilization Units across the state. Cook claimed that it makes Arkansas one of only twelve states to have this dementia component training required for officers
"We already added 16 hours of mental health training, we've just added two more to, you know, to really target like I said Alzheimer's dementia," Representative Tosh explained.
Cook celebrates a victory with two other bills focused on dementia being passed unanimously. It makes this a record-breaking session for the Arkansas Alzheimer's Association, but only the start of creating more awareness.
"We are right at the beginning of what we call the silver tsunami, where baby boomers are about to hit retirement age. And the prevalence of Alzheimer's or dementia across the state of Arkansas is expected to increase by nearly 16% In just two years," Cook said.
Cook said the Arkansas chapter of the Alzheimer's Association is only beginning their legislative advocacy for Alzheimer's as they look to create more awareness of the disease. He explained that the recent approval from the FDA for an Alzheimer's treatment is creating a higher need for awareness as it is "only viable for people in the very early stages of MCI."
"An early detection and diagnosis is extremely important, even more important than it has been in the past," Cook said.
You can visit the Alzheimer's Association's website to find more information on the disease.
Watch 5NEWS on YouTube.
Download the 5NEWS app on your smartphone:
Stream 5NEWS 24/7 on the 5+ app: How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com and detail which story you're referring to.